Muffin opener



Jan. 28, i964 M. KATZENSTEIN MUFFIN OPENER Filed May 18, 1962 UnitedStates Patent O 3,119,428 MUFFIN OPENER Miles Katzenstein, 87 MarionAve., Mount Vernon, N.Y. Filed May 18, 1962, Ser. No. 195,906 1 Claim.(Cl. 146-72) The present invention rela-tes to a device for openingrnuiiins, rolls, scones or other baked foodstuffs.

Baked goods such as English muins must be opened for pulled apartwithout cutting with a knife so as not to destroy the light, fluffy,inner texture thereof. When an mnilin is sliced with a knife, it willcompact at the area fwhere it has been cut detracting from its taste andtexture.

It is very dii'cult to tear apart an English muin. Various types ofdevices have heretofore been devised for separating an English muflin orthe like into halves. These devices include fa divider formed of .a pairof frames having `depending tines which frames are :arranged normally in`closely spaced relationship lwith the outermost portions of the framesadjacent the ends of the tines being hingedly connected together.Another form of mutlin tearing device includes a complex frameworkarrangement having dependen-t tines for separating the mufn into its twohalves. Various types of cutting devices for the English mu'in lapartially roughened surface along the cutting edge have also beendevised. However, the prior muliin tearing or cutting ldevices have beenlargely unsatisfactory and not commercially exploitable dlue to the factthat they are exceedingly complicated and pf e. large size and requirethe use of careful machining of metal parts or do not satisfactorilytear the muin apart.

The present invention overcomes the difficulties of the prior artdevices by being adapted to simply and easily open `a muflin, yet whichmmh-n opener may be made out of various types of inexpensive material,and in fact may be molded out Iof synthetic plastic materials at a verylow cost thereby permitting wide use and distribution.

An object of the present invention resides in the provision of la Inuinopener which .is arranged so as to have rtines which -caneasilypenetrate an English muffin or the like, yet which t-ines are of a sizejust long enough so as to fully pierce the muin while being short enoughto be resistant to breakage.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of -a muffinopener that can be operated in a simple manner Jby a person using onlyone hand on the muin opener which lleaves the other hand free -to holdlthe muf-n bei-ng opened.

Still ianother object of the invention resides in the provision of a munopening device which is yadapted to open a muin a manner so 'as to leavea desired rough surface siutable for toasting yet which eliminates Ithenecessity of tearing .the muin apart by hand which very oftenincapacitates the mufn for toasting purposes.

Still further objects and features of this invention reside in theprovision of a muffin opener that is simple in construction, easy tooperate, which is attractive in appearance and of a relatively compactsize, thereby rendering it Va useful device for every kitchen, `andwhich is inexpensive to manufacture.

These, together with the various ancillary objects and features of theinvention which will become apparent as the follow-ing descriptionproceeds, are yattained by this muffin opener, preferred embodiments :ofwhich have been illustrated in .the accompanying drawing, by way ofexample only, wherein:

FIG. l is a perspective view of an embodiment of muffin opener shownwith the tines in their normally closed position as inserted into amuflin;

F-IG. 2 is a perspective View of .a muin opener shown ICC 2 with thetines thrust into the open position so as to open an English muffin intotwo halves;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the mufn iop-ener;

FIG. 4 is lan end elevational view taken along the plane of line 4-4 inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to that Vof FIG. 4, but illustrating the muflinopener in an open position;

FIG. `6 is an enlarged sectional detail view taken along the plane ofiline 6-6 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a modified iorm of the invention; and

FIG. 8 is lan enlarged sectional detail view taken along the plane ofline 8-8 in FIG. 7.

With continuing reference to the accompanying drawing wherein likereference numerals designate similar parts throughout the various views,reference numeral 10 is used to generally designate an embodiment ofmuflin opener constructed in accordance with the concepts of the presentinvention. The muiiin opener 10 includes a pair o-f bars i12 and 14.rThe bars 12 and 14 include front Iworking sections 16 and 18K which.are integrally formed with rear handle sections 20 and 22. The bars 12and 14 are considerably deeper than .the thickness thereof and may be-formed of any suitable material such as metals or various syntheticplastic materials. It has been found that the muin iopener may be moldedout of the relative-ly high strength plastic material such aspolystyrene at a relatively low cost so yas to achieve Ia light Weight,highly attractive and easily operable kitchen utensil. A pl-urality ofspaced ti-nes 26, 218, 30 are integrally formed with the front workingpart 18 of the bar 14 and depend therefrom. These tines y26, 2S yand 30`are of cylindrical rod shape and extend inwardly of .the front openportion 18 .toward the front working portion 16. integrally 'formed withthe front working part 1'6 lare tines 25, 27, 29 ,and 31 which likewiseyare of cylindrical rod shape and depend from the front 'working portion16 lwhile extending toward the front working portion 1'8. As Will henoted from an inspection of FIG. 1, the tines 26, 28 and 30 varestaggered with respect to the tines 25, 27, 29 and 311. 'I'he tines arealigned in a common plane with the muffin opener in the closed positionas shown in FIG. l, and the tines are equally spaced. It is noted thatthe central tine 28 is the longest of the tines while the tines 27 Iand29 'are slightly shorter than tine 28, the tines 2,6 and 3i) beingslightly shorter than tines 27 Iand 29, and the outermost tines 35 and31 are the shortest of Ithe tines. Thus, the tines conform to thearcuate shape at their outermost edges of Ia mu'in or the like so thatWhen the tines have fully penetrated the muffin, there is noconsiderable overhang orf the tines. This is desirable since the tinesshould be only so long as is necessary to properly do the job ofIopening the mufns While not being so long as to be of a reducedstrength.

Integral with the bar 14 are `a pair of knuckles 34 and 36 and mtegraltwith the bar 12 is the knuckle 3,8. A pintel 40 serves to provide 'apivotal or hinged connection lbetween the bars 12 and 14 and extendsthrough the Ialigned knuckles 34, 36 and 38.

Secured las by rivets 44 or the like to the handle portion 20' of thehar 12 is a spring 46. This spring may alternatively be integrallyformed with the bar 20 land engages the handle portion 22 of the bar 14so as to norlmal-ly .thrust the handle portions '20* and 22 apart asshown in FIG. 1. However, the spring is compressed upon Inanuallycompressing the handle portions 201 and 22 into the position las shownin FIG. 2.

In operati-on, the muiiin opener is inserted into a muffin M atapproximately the center position thereof and with the tines extendinginto or nearly through the rnulin ends, the handle portions 20 and 22are compressed together 3 as shown in FIG. 2 splitting the muins intohalves M1 and. M2.

Returning now to the embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 7, itwill be noted that herein the bars f112 and 11114 of the mruin opener 10are twisted so that while the iront working portions 116 and 118 aresimilar in shape to the respective part-s shown in FIG. l, the handleportions 120` and 122 are twisted as at 121 and 123 so that the handleportions lie in planes normal to the planes of the working portions 116and 118.

The plurality of ltines 125, 127, 12.9, 131 depend from the liront'working portion 113` while alternately spaced between the mines 125,:127, .129 and v131 and depending from the iront Working portion 116 of`the tines 126, 128, 130. In this form of the invention the tine 12S; isthe longest of `the tines `and is slightly 4longer than the tines 127,129 which in tum are longer than the tines 126, 130. The 'rines 125 and1131 which are disposed at the outermost of fthe tines are the shortestfines. Thus, When all of the 4tines lare inserted into a muin, there isno large portion of any tine, particularly of the outermost tines, whichextend far beyond the mufn and are th-us likely to be broken lor to beweakened because :of the excessive lever arm that can be appliedthereon.

A suitable hinge arrangement 141i is arranged so as to include andextend through projections 142 and 144 integrally formed with the handleportions 120 and 122 with the hinge arrangement urther including athreaded pin and nut, the pin extending through aligned apertures in theprojections 142 `and 144. A spring 1428 is secured =by any suitablemeans 115()-y -to the handle portion 122 and lies lin `a slot 1152preferably of an arcuate shape formed inthe handle portion 120. The slotitself is of an arcuate contour so that the end v154 'of Ithe spring 148which lies in the lslot 152 is subject to a camming action. The spring158 will normally urge the tines to their closed position as shown inFIG. 7.

The form of the invention las shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 functions in thesame manner as the other embodiment of the invention illustrated inFIGS. 1 through 6 in that d it is merely necessary to compress thehandle portions 120 and 1.22 against Ithe force of the spring 148 toopen the tines after the tines have been inserted in a muihn to open themmiin.

A latitude yof modification, change nand substitution is intended in theforegoing disclosure Iand in some instances some features of theinvention will be employed Without a corresponding use of otherfeatures. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended 'claim Ibeconstrued broadly `and in a manner iconsistent with the spirit and scopeof the invention therein.

What I claim is:

A muin ropener lcomprising a pair of bars hingedly connected Ito eachother, said bars having normally diyergently extending handle portionsand normally closely proximate Working portions having opposed innerfaces, said working portions having elongated longitudinal axes, aplurality of tri-nes arranged normal-ly in a linearly alignedrelationship depending perpendicularly from said faces of said Workingportions, spring means secured `to one of said handle portions landengaging the other of said handle portions -to lurge said bars intotheir normal position, said tines when said 'handle portions are mowedtogether moving into spaced apart parallel position with the tines onsaid working portions being aligned in planes extending divergently withrespect to each other, each of said faces lof said Working portionsnormally engaging the tines depending from the `other :of said irontportions to arrange lboth sets of said 'tines in a common plane, thecentrally disposed of said ltines being the longest, the forwardrnostand rea-rWardnros-t of said tines being the shortest.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 326,909'Kricker Sept. 22, 1885 544,268 Unsinger et al. 1 Alug. 6, 1895 2,818,097Glanz Dec. 31, 1957 2,979,095 Jovis Apr. 11, 1961

